Alanna Lockwardwwwalannalockwardcom

artlabouryahoocom

BLACK EUROPE BODY POLITICS TOWARDS AN AFROPEAN DECOLONIAL

AESTHETICS

by Alanna Lockward

To quote this essay

Lockward Alanna (Forthcoming Submitted on 29102012) Black Europe Body Politics

Towards an Afropean Decolonial Aesthetics In Decolonial Aesthetics Dossier Mignolo

Walter and Vaacutezquez Rolando (Eds) Social Text Journal Periscope

httpwwwsocialtextjournalorgperiscope

Jeannette Ehlers 2009 Black Magic At The White House0346 sound Courtesy of the artist and Art Labour Archiveshttpsvimeocom25062988

It is crucial to point out that even though the conceptualization of decolonial aesthetics is

fairly recent its points of departure - the epistemic shifts that have challenged coloniality

in the artistic and cultural practices of the Global South - are as old as the system itself

The defiance to colonialism in Vodou dance and rituals which in Haiti ultimately lead to

the first successful slave revolution is a splendid case-in point in this regard

What decolonial aesthetics does is to connect these legacies and its current displays to

the analytical model modernitycolonialitydecoloniality BEBOP 2012 Black Europe

Body Politics1 (May 4-6 Ballhaus Naunynstrasse Berlin) introduced2 this theoretical

approach to the visual arts in Europe and the African continent with a wide spectrum of

screenings3

1

(httpblackeuropebodypoliticswordpresscom)

2 httprebootfm20120408bebop-black-europe-body-politics3 See Appendix

Alanna Lockward

BEBOP 2012 at Ballhaus Naunynstrasse

Photo by Wagner Carvalho

In the process of organizing BEBOP 2012 BLACK EUROPE BODY POLITICS I

conceptualized the diasporic as a specific approach to decolonial aesthetics with the

purpose of outlining the particularities of certain continental Black European experiences

As a work-in-progress this first conceptualization has now become ldquoAfropean decolonial

aestheticsrdquo What follows is a review of my arrival to this point by firstly mapping the field

of diaspora aesthetics and secondly outlining the terminological and theoretical

pertinence of the ldquoAfropeanrdquo in relation to current analytical models of both decolonial

and diaspora aesthetics

Modernitycolonialitydecoloniality the model or research programme inspired by the

groundbreaking contribution of Peruvian sociologist and humanist Aniacutebal Quijano offers

a tool to dismantle the continuities of colonialism after formal decolonisation At the same

time the programme defines modernity as a rhetoric inseparable from the logic of

coloniality (Mignolo 2008) which consists of the systematic exploitation of entire

populations in the name of ldquoprogressrdquo and ldquocivilizationrdquo As mentioned at the beginning

the analysis and contestations over this inextricable inseparability have been part of

modernitycoloniality since its very inception This work is called ldquodecolonialityrdquo In this

sense decolonial thinkers examine post-colonial studies as limited in scope since apart

from omitting this inextricability their genealogy is anchored in rather provincial theories

of (post) modernity based largely on Eurocentric historical and intellectual genealogies

There are several conceptualizations of diaspora aesthetics in post-colonial studies

within what R Radahkrishnan (1991) calls ldquoThe Age of Diasporardquo Kobena Mercer has

published extensively on the subject since the eighties Other contributions include

Alexander Weheliyeacutes ldquoAfro-diasporic aestheticsrdquo (2005324) and Krista Thompsonacutes

ldquoAfrican diasporic formsrdquo (201138) These theoretical approaches share a common

thread with the seminal essays on diaspora and cultural representation by Stuart Hall

2

Alanna Lockward

They also share a dialogical stamina in their analysis The authors systematically choose

to articulate their ideas by departing from the discussion of specific cultural practices

rather than trying to establish yet another abstract universal In other other words these

are situation-specific conceptualizations comme-il-faut In the case of Thompson the

focus is given to the social status performed in the hip-hop inspired prom rituals in The

Bahamas Weheliye ldquoaccompaniedrdquo by Dubois Walter Benjamin and Ralph Elllison

introduces ldquosonic Afro-modernityrdquo as an indicator of the disjuncture between sound and

source exemplified by ldquoSoulsrdquo4

In Kobena Merceracutes paradigmatic reflexions on diaspora aesthetics moving-image plays

a relevant role Many of the works presented and discussed during BEBOP 2012 share

with those of early Black British filmmakers analyzed by Mercer the confounding of

stereotypes and the displacement of common assumptions of an essentialized Black

identity What differentiates the works of BEBOP 2012 from those studied by Mercer is a

rather bizarre element the fact that Black filmmakers in Britain did not have to ldquoproverdquo

that colonialism and imperialism actually ldquohappenedrdquo or as in the case of The

Netherlands that since ldquothat happened so long ago they are ultimately irrelevantrdquo

Ingrid Mwangi Robert Hutter Wild At Heart 1998 Performance Single-Channel Video 130 SoundCourtesy of the Artist and Art Labour Archiveshttpwwwingridmwangideingrid_mwangi_robert_hutterwild_life_1999html

The contribution of Afropean decolonial aesthetics to current conceptualizations of

diaspora aesthetics is to illuminate the way in which diaspora creators address the

occlusions concealed by modernity that hide the dirty job of colonality In this sense we

4

ldquoWhen Du Bois ([1903] 1989 2 emphasis mine) first introduces the ldquoSorrow Songsrdquo in the ldquoForethoughtrdquo he links them directly to the souls of black folk ldquoBefore each chapter as now printed stands a bar of the Sorrow Songsmdashsome echo of haunting melody from the only American music which welled up from black souls in the dark pastrdquo Moreover in the ldquoAfterthoughtrdquo to Souls Du Bois ([1903] 1989 217) asks his readers to ldquoHear [his] cryrdquo and the best way to hear the souls of black folk as Du Bois remarks at the end of chapter 1 (ldquoOf Our Spiritual Strivingsrdquo) is to is to listen to the ldquoSorrow Songsrdquo Du Bois ([1903] 1989 12) does not ask his readers to view or see the souls of black folk but instead he writes so ldquothat men may listen to the souls of black folkrdquo

Weheliye 2005319

3

Alanna Lockward

They also share a dialogical stamina in their analysis The authors systematically choose

to articulate their ideas by departing from the discussion of specific cultural practices

rather than trying to establish yet another abstract universal In other other words these

are situation-specific conceptualizations comme-il-faut In the case of Thompson the

focus is given to the social status performed in the hip-hop inspired prom rituals in The

Bahamas Weheliye ldquoaccompaniedrdquo by Dubois Walter Benjamin and Ralph Elllison

introduces ldquosonic Afro-modernityrdquo as an indicator of the disjuncture between sound and

source exemplified by ldquoSoulsrdquo4

In Kobena Merceracutes paradigmatic reflexions on diaspora aesthetics moving-image plays

a relevant role Many of the works presented and discussed during BEBOP 2012 share

with those of early Black British filmmakers analyzed by Mercer the confounding of

stereotypes and the displacement of common assumptions of an essentialized Black

identity What differentiates the works of BEBOP 2012 from those studied by Mercer is a

rather bizarre element the fact that Black filmmakers in Britain did not have to ldquoproverdquo

that colonialism and imperialism actually ldquohappenedrdquo or as in the case of The

Netherlands that since ldquothat happened so long ago they are ultimately irrelevantrdquo

Ingrid Mwangi Robert Hutter Wild At Heart 1998 Performance Single-Channel Video 130 SoundCourtesy of the Artist and Art Labour Archiveshttpwwwingridmwangideingrid_mwangi_robert_hutterwild_life_1999html

The contribution of Afropean decolonial aesthetics to current conceptualizations of

diaspora aesthetics is to illuminate the way in which diaspora creators address the

occlusions concealed by modernity that hide the dirty job of colonality In this sense we

4

ldquoWhen Du Bois ([1903] 1989 2 emphasis mine) first introduces the ldquoSorrow Songsrdquo in the ldquoForethoughtrdquo he links them directly to the souls of black folk ldquoBefore each chapter as now printed stands a bar of the Sorrow Songsmdashsome echo of haunting melody from the only American music which welled up from black souls in the dark pastrdquo Moreover in the ldquoAfterthoughtrdquo to Souls Du Bois ([1903] 1989 217) asks his readers to ldquoHear [his] cryrdquo and the best way to hear the souls of black folk as Du Bois remarks at the end of chapter 1 (ldquoOf Our Spiritual Strivingsrdquo) is to is to listen to the ldquoSorrow Songsrdquo Du Bois ([1903] 1989 12) does not ask his readers to view or see the souls of black folk but instead he writes so ldquothat men may listen to the souls of black folkrdquo

Weheliye 2005319

3

Alanna Lockward

address our presence in what Quinsy Gario has described as ldquomodern art plantationsrdquo5

and I paraphrase as ldquothe art plantations of modernityrdquo - as neither tangential or incidental

It is indeed in this globally inescapable plantation system mentality superbly argued by

Antonio Beniacutetez Rojo in La Isla que se Repite(The Repeating Island The Caribbean and

the Postmodern Perspective 1998) that certain artists from the Caribbean and other

Black diasporas have chosen to challenge its coloniality of knowledge and being and to

create the possibilities of sensing that strip the hegemonic ldquosupremacyrdquo of modernity The

video-collage ldquoOtherrdquo by Aboriginal-Australian artist Tracey Moffatt is a masterpiece in

this regard

Tracey Moffatt Other 2009 700 sound 2009Courtesy of the artist and The Momentum Collection

Afropean decolonial aesthetics assumes the Caribbean diaspora as organically implied in

Black andor African diaspora in Europe following the predicaments of Stuart Hall6 and so

many others There is a vast global bibliography on diaspora studies and particularly in

Europe situation-specific re-semantizations of the term are mushrooming all over the

place For the sake of clarity I will quote the definition of Agustiacuten Lao Montes of an

African Diaspora since it feels closer to my own experience as a member of the

Caribbean Diaspora

5 ldquoSo letrsquos say goodbye to easy and comfortable generalizations lain to rest amongthe ashes of the suspension of disbeliefWe are the invaders and squattersof the modern art plantationsthat drive us to and beyond the brinkof sanity and the sanitariumand the sanitizedrdquo (Gario 2012)

6 ldquo[] our cultural identities reflect the common historical experiences and shared cultural codes which provide us as one people with stable unchanging and continuous frames of reference and meaning beneath the shifting divisions and vicissitudes of our actual history This oneness underlying all the other more superficial differences is the truth the essence of Caribbeanness of the black experience It is this identity which a Caribbean or black dia-spora must discover excavate bring to light and express through cinematic representationrdquo

Hall 1989223

4

Alanna Lockward

ldquoIf the world-historical field that we now call the African diaspora as a condition of dispersal and as a process of displacement is founded on forms of violence and terror that are central to modernity it also signifies a cosmopolitan project of articulating the diverse histories of African peoples while creating translocal intellectualcultural currents and political movementsrdquo (Lao Montes 200755)

The decolonial in aesthetics substantiates the notion that we are and always have been

part of modernity This is why our strategies of re-existence (Albaacuten Achinte 201020) are

analyzed as an integral part of modernity instead of defining ourselves as ldquoother

modernitiesrdquo we call ourselves ldquodecolonized colonialityrdquo

The following quote by Stuart Hall is illustrative of a key contestation of decolonial

thinking and aesthetics with respect to post-colonial and cultural studies

ldquoThinking about my own sense of identity I realize that it has always depended on the fact of being a migrant on the difference from the rest of you So one of the fascinating thinks about this discussion is to find myself centered at last Now that in the postmodern age you all feel so dispersed I become centered What Ive thought of as dispersed and fragmented comes paradoxically to be the representative modern experience This is ldquocoming homerdquo with a vengeancerdquo (Stuart Hall in Mercer 2005316)

From the decolonial perspective we have never abandoned ldquohomerdquo (coloniality) The

process of decolonization of our minds involves a realization of this fact We have always

been here as the hidden side of modernity therefore our presence is self-explanatory

Self-agency on the other hand is something that decolonial thinking and doing shares

with Hallacutes dictum since ultimately our recognition in the mirroring mirages of modernity

unites us in solidarity Furthermore Afropean decolonial aesthetics embraces Hallacutes

ldquoburden of representationrdquo as a most welcomed gift the gift of self-awareness the gift of

mental sensing and aesthetics decolonization As in Hallacutes predicament during BEBOP

2012 we became centered in our own experiences within a pan-European context We

talked between ourselves to ourselves about ourselves it was a banquet of identities

The so-called ldquopost-racialrdquo ldquopost-identityrdquo or ldquopost-Blackrdquo eras were oxymorons in our

vocabulary

5

Alanna Lockward

Teresa Mariacutea Diacuteaz Nerio Hommage agrave Sara Bartman 2007Performance 40rsquo Video 5rsquo no-soundCourtesy of the artist and Art Labour Archives

The pervasive colonial amnesia in Germany and Scandinavian countries skilfully

illustrates a Pan-European denial scenario The systematic involvement in the financial

network of the trans-Atlantic slave trade and later in the Berlin-Africa Conference (1884-

1885) are just two examples

Since artists in different European locations thoroughly engage with these historical

vacuums my choice to connect their commonalities and my own curatorial praxis as an

Afropean decolonial aesthetics responds to what Erna Brodber has described as the

ldquoContinent of Black Consciousnessrdquo7 but from the situation of living in Europe and not the

Caribbean Therefore the particularization of ldquoAfropeanrdquo is meant to signal the emergence

of Black Consciouness in Europe from a Pan-Africanist perspective8

During BEBOP 2012 our multiple dialogues were focused on the works of artists

thinkers and activists inhabiting the Continent of Black Consciousness in Africa (Simmi

Dullay) the Caribbean and African Diaspora in Europe (Teresa Mariacutea Diacuteaz Nerio

Jeannette Ehlers Quinsy Gario Ylva Habel Grada Kilomba Adetoun Kuumlppers Adebisi

Michael Kuumlppers Adebisi Ingrid Mwangi Robert Hutter David Olusoga Minna Salami

Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung Robbie Shilliam Jean-Marie Teno and Emeka

Udemba) and Australia (Tracey Moffatt and Sumugan Sivanesan)

7 Special thanks to Robbie Shilliam for introducing me to this wonderful author and thinker and also for his invaluable insights for this essay8 Edna Brodberacutes poetic contribution in her novel ldquoLouisianardquo is based on Marcus Garveyacutes Pan

Africanism ldquoAfrica for the Africans in Africa and Beyondrdquo

6

Alanna Lockward

Sumugan SivanesanA Childrenacutes Book of War A [Not So] Secret War Terra Nullius and the Permanent State of Exception146 sound 2010 Courtesy of the Artist and The Momentum Collection httpchildrensbookofwarblogspotde201009childrens-book-of-war_27html

The decolonial in Afropean decolonial aesthics acknowledges our common struggle

against coloniliaty materialized in chilling examples of systematic racialization and

prosecution of people of African descent in Europe which will be discussed further on

Together in this journey of mind and sensing decolonization we are not only demanding

retribution from the colonial legacies in Africa we are also outlining the continuities of

these legacies in coloniality that is colonialism without colonies

European coloniliaty is chillingly present in a brand new institution Frontex9 an external

and internal borders programme founded in 2005 with the fastest growing budget in the

European Union A European Union that was first known and conceptualized as

inseparable from (the exploitation of) Africa and therefore named by its founders as

ldquoEurafricardquo (Hansen and Jonsson 2011) Indeed there are irrefutable historical

continuities between the Berlin-Africa Conference (1884-1885) the original Eurafrica

(European Union) project and current interventionist ldquomappingsrdquo of migration routes in the

African Continent This border externalization ldquoinitiativerdquo could be defined as a de facto

ldquocartographic warrdquo against Africa and adds ups to the relevance of ldquoAfropeanrdquo as a

translating tool of current entanglements of coloniality in Europe ldquoAfropeanrdquo announces

these realities and goes beyond mere reflection by inverting the order of its two

components They say ldquoEurafricardquo and I say ldquoAfropeanrdquo from our own community tale10

9 httpwwwfrontexeuropaeu 10 ldquoMammy would not tell the president nor his men her tale for it was not hers she was no hero It was a tale of cooperative action it was a community tale We made it happenrdquo

(Brodner 1994161)

7

Alanna Lockward

ldquoIf the world-historical field that we now call the African diaspora as a condition of dispersal and as a process of displacement is founded on forms of violence and terror that are central to modernity it also signifies a cosmopolitan project of articulating the diverse histories of African peoples while creating translocal intellectualcultural currents and political movementsrdquo (Lao Montes 200755)

The decolonial in aesthetics substantiates the notion that we are and always have been

part of modernity This is why our strategies of re-existence (Albaacuten Achinte 201020) are

analyzed as an integral part of modernity instead of defining ourselves as ldquoother

modernitiesrdquo we call ourselves ldquodecolonized colonialityrdquo

The following quote by Stuart Hall is illustrative of a key contestation of decolonial

thinking and aesthetics with respect to post-colonial and cultural studies

ldquoThinking about my own sense of identity I realize that it has always depended on the fact of being a migrant on the difference from the rest of you So one of the fascinating thinks about this discussion is to find myself centered at last Now that in the postmodern age you all feel so dispersed I become centered What Ive thought of as dispersed and fragmented comes paradoxically to be the representative modern experience This is ldquocoming homerdquo with a vengeancerdquo (Stuart Hall in Mercer 2005316)

From the decolonial perspective we have never abandoned ldquohomerdquo (coloniality) The

process of decolonization of our minds involves a realization of this fact We have always

been here as the hidden side of modernity therefore our presence is self-explanatory

Self-agency on the other hand is something that decolonial thinking and doing shares

with Hallacutes dictum since ultimately our recognition in the mirroring mirages of modernity

unites us in solidarity Furthermore Afropean decolonial aesthetics embraces Hallacutes

ldquoburden of representationrdquo as a most welcomed gift the gift of self-awareness the gift of

mental sensing and aesthetics decolonization As in Hallacutes predicament during BEBOP

2012 we became centered in our own experiences within a pan-European context We

talked between ourselves to ourselves about ourselves it was a banquet of identities

The so-called ldquopost-racialrdquo ldquopost-identityrdquo or ldquopost-Blackrdquo eras were oxymorons in our

vocabulary

5

Alanna Lockward

Teresa Mariacutea Diacuteaz Nerio Hommage agrave Sara Bartman 2007Performance 40rsquo Video 5rsquo no-soundCourtesy of the artist and Art Labour Archives

The pervasive colonial amnesia in Germany and Scandinavian countries skilfully

illustrates a Pan-European denial scenario The systematic involvement in the financial

network of the trans-Atlantic slave trade and later in the Berlin-Africa Conference (1884-

1885) are just two examples

Since artists in different European locations thoroughly engage with these historical

vacuums my choice to connect their commonalities and my own curatorial praxis as an

Afropean decolonial aesthetics responds to what Erna Brodber has described as the

ldquoContinent of Black Consciousnessrdquo7 but from the situation of living in Europe and not the

Caribbean Therefore the particularization of ldquoAfropeanrdquo is meant to signal the emergence

of Black Consciouness in Europe from a Pan-Africanist perspective8

During BEBOP 2012 our multiple dialogues were focused on the works of artists

thinkers and activists inhabiting the Continent of Black Consciousness in Africa (Simmi

Dullay) the Caribbean and African Diaspora in Europe (Teresa Mariacutea Diacuteaz Nerio

Jeannette Ehlers Quinsy Gario Ylva Habel Grada Kilomba Adetoun Kuumlppers Adebisi

Michael Kuumlppers Adebisi Ingrid Mwangi Robert Hutter David Olusoga Minna Salami

Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung Robbie Shilliam Jean-Marie Teno and Emeka

Udemba) and Australia (Tracey Moffatt and Sumugan Sivanesan)

7 Special thanks to Robbie Shilliam for introducing me to this wonderful author and thinker and also for his invaluable insights for this essay8 Edna Brodberacutes poetic contribution in her novel ldquoLouisianardquo is based on Marcus Garveyacutes Pan

Africanism ldquoAfrica for the Africans in Africa and Beyondrdquo

6

Alanna Lockward

Sumugan SivanesanA Childrenacutes Book of War A [Not So] Secret War Terra Nullius and the Permanent State of Exception146 sound 2010 Courtesy of the Artist and The Momentum Collection httpchildrensbookofwarblogspotde201009childrens-book-of-war_27html

The decolonial in Afropean decolonial aesthics acknowledges our common struggle

against coloniliaty materialized in chilling examples of systematic racialization and

prosecution of people of African descent in Europe which will be discussed further on

Together in this journey of mind and sensing decolonization we are not only demanding

retribution from the colonial legacies in Africa we are also outlining the continuities of

these legacies in coloniality that is colonialism without colonies

European coloniliaty is chillingly present in a brand new institution Frontex9 an external

and internal borders programme founded in 2005 with the fastest growing budget in the

European Union A European Union that was first known and conceptualized as

inseparable from (the exploitation of) Africa and therefore named by its founders as

ldquoEurafricardquo (Hansen and Jonsson 2011) Indeed there are irrefutable historical

continuities between the Berlin-Africa Conference (1884-1885) the original Eurafrica

(European Union) project and current interventionist ldquomappingsrdquo of migration routes in the

African Continent This border externalization ldquoinitiativerdquo could be defined as a de facto

ldquocartographic warrdquo against Africa and adds ups to the relevance of ldquoAfropeanrdquo as a

translating tool of current entanglements of coloniality in Europe ldquoAfropeanrdquo announces

these realities and goes beyond mere reflection by inverting the order of its two

components They say ldquoEurafricardquo and I say ldquoAfropeanrdquo from our own community tale10

9 httpwwwfrontexeuropaeu 10 ldquoMammy would not tell the president nor his men her tale for it was not hers she was no hero It was a tale of cooperative action it was a community tale We made it happenrdquo

(Brodner 1994161)

7

Alanna Lockward

Teresa Mariacutea Diacuteaz Nerio Hommage agrave Sara Bartman 2007Performance 40rsquo Video 5rsquo no-soundCourtesy of the artist and Art Labour Archives

The pervasive colonial amnesia in Germany and Scandinavian countries skilfully

illustrates a Pan-European denial scenario The systematic involvement in the financial

network of the trans-Atlantic slave trade and later in the Berlin-Africa Conference (1884-

1885) are just two examples

Since artists in different European locations thoroughly engage with these historical

vacuums my choice to connect their commonalities and my own curatorial praxis as an

Afropean decolonial aesthetics responds to what Erna Brodber has described as the

ldquoContinent of Black Consciousnessrdquo7 but from the situation of living in Europe and not the

Caribbean Therefore the particularization of ldquoAfropeanrdquo is meant to signal the emergence

of Black Consciouness in Europe from a Pan-Africanist perspective8

During BEBOP 2012 our multiple dialogues were focused on the works of artists

thinkers and activists inhabiting the Continent of Black Consciousness in Africa (Simmi

Dullay) the Caribbean and African Diaspora in Europe (Teresa Mariacutea Diacuteaz Nerio

Jeannette Ehlers Quinsy Gario Ylva Habel Grada Kilomba Adetoun Kuumlppers Adebisi

Michael Kuumlppers Adebisi Ingrid Mwangi Robert Hutter David Olusoga Minna Salami

Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung Robbie Shilliam Jean-Marie Teno and Emeka

Udemba) and Australia (Tracey Moffatt and Sumugan Sivanesan)

7 Special thanks to Robbie Shilliam for introducing me to this wonderful author and thinker and also for his invaluable insights for this essay8 Edna Brodberacutes poetic contribution in her novel ldquoLouisianardquo is based on Marcus Garveyacutes Pan

Africanism ldquoAfrica for the Africans in Africa and Beyondrdquo

6

Alanna Lockward

Sumugan SivanesanA Childrenacutes Book of War A [Not So] Secret War Terra Nullius and the Permanent State of Exception146 sound 2010 Courtesy of the Artist and The Momentum Collection httpchildrensbookofwarblogspotde201009childrens-book-of-war_27html

The decolonial in Afropean decolonial aesthics acknowledges our common struggle

against coloniliaty materialized in chilling examples of systematic racialization and

prosecution of people of African descent in Europe which will be discussed further on

Together in this journey of mind and sensing decolonization we are not only demanding

retribution from the colonial legacies in Africa we are also outlining the continuities of

these legacies in coloniality that is colonialism without colonies

European coloniliaty is chillingly present in a brand new institution Frontex9 an external

and internal borders programme founded in 2005 with the fastest growing budget in the

European Union A European Union that was first known and conceptualized as

inseparable from (the exploitation of) Africa and therefore named by its founders as

ldquoEurafricardquo (Hansen and Jonsson 2011) Indeed there are irrefutable historical

continuities between the Berlin-Africa Conference (1884-1885) the original Eurafrica

(European Union) project and current interventionist ldquomappingsrdquo of migration routes in the

African Continent This border externalization ldquoinitiativerdquo could be defined as a de facto

ldquocartographic warrdquo against Africa and adds ups to the relevance of ldquoAfropeanrdquo as a

translating tool of current entanglements of coloniality in Europe ldquoAfropeanrdquo announces

these realities and goes beyond mere reflection by inverting the order of its two

components They say ldquoEurafricardquo and I say ldquoAfropeanrdquo from our own community tale10

9 httpwwwfrontexeuropaeu 10 ldquoMammy would not tell the president nor his men her tale for it was not hers she was no hero It was a tale of cooperative action it was a community tale We made it happenrdquo

(Brodner 1994161)

7

Alanna Lockward

Sumugan SivanesanA Childrenacutes Book of War A [Not So] Secret War Terra Nullius and the Permanent State of Exception146 sound 2010 Courtesy of the Artist and The Momentum Collection httpchildrensbookofwarblogspotde201009childrens-book-of-war_27html

The decolonial in Afropean decolonial aesthics acknowledges our common struggle

against coloniliaty materialized in chilling examples of systematic racialization and

prosecution of people of African descent in Europe which will be discussed further on

Together in this journey of mind and sensing decolonization we are not only demanding

retribution from the colonial legacies in Africa we are also outlining the continuities of

these legacies in coloniality that is colonialism without colonies

European coloniliaty is chillingly present in a brand new institution Frontex9 an external

and internal borders programme founded in 2005 with the fastest growing budget in the

European Union A European Union that was first known and conceptualized as

inseparable from (the exploitation of) Africa and therefore named by its founders as

ldquoEurafricardquo (Hansen and Jonsson 2011) Indeed there are irrefutable historical

continuities between the Berlin-Africa Conference (1884-1885) the original Eurafrica

(European Union) project and current interventionist ldquomappingsrdquo of migration routes in the

African Continent This border externalization ldquoinitiativerdquo could be defined as a de facto

ldquocartographic warrdquo against Africa and adds ups to the relevance of ldquoAfropeanrdquo as a

translating tool of current entanglements of coloniality in Europe ldquoAfropeanrdquo announces

these realities and goes beyond mere reflection by inverting the order of its two

components They say ldquoEurafricardquo and I say ldquoAfropeanrdquo from our own community tale10

9 httpwwwfrontexeuropaeu 10 ldquoMammy would not tell the president nor his men her tale for it was not hers she was no hero It was a tale of cooperative action it was a community tale We made it happenrdquo

(Brodner 1994161)

7

Alanna Lockward

William Kentridge Black BoxChambre Noire 2005 2200 soundCourtesy of the artist and Marian Goodman Gallery

Paradoxically the African presence in Europe is older than in the Americas The (still

contested) 800 years of African occupation of the Iberian Peninsula is a case in point

And Neacutegritude the epigram that contributed to the liberation of the African continent in

the so called ldquoShort Centuryrdquo was invented in Paris in the 1930acutes where also one of five

European Pan-African Congress were held (the original Pan-African conference took

place in London in 1900)

Furthermore BEBOP 2013 entitled ldquoDecolonizing the Cold Warrdquo 11

will be dedicated to exposing how the Black Body as a space of dignity power and

beauty permeated the radical imagination of artists and thinkers in Europe beyond racial

divides We will be talking about the legacies of Angela Davis a former student of

Herbert Marcuse and Richard Wright who first published ldquoBlack Powerrdquo in London

inspired by Pan-Africans such as George Pademore and Kwame Nkrumah

Another ground for the pertinence of ldquoAfropeanrdquo in relation to diaspora aesthetics and

diaspora studies in general is that unlike in the USA the UK the Caribbean and Latin

America the Black Diaspora in continental Europe cannot comfort itself with being an

accepted community within the nation at large albeit a pathologized one In fact against

all odds the very notion of a Black or Afro- community - even if new or recent is

disavowed in much of continental Europe In this regard the ldquoAfropeanrdquo contributes to

give a particular resonance with respect to Diaspora Aesthetics insofar its variables

accentuate its nuances vis-agrave-vis hegemonic US-focused academic discourses and also

in relation to Black British cultural studies aacute la Hall

Likewise with regards to its demarcation within Diaspora Studies ldquoAfropeanrdquo (in relation

to Decolonial Aesthetics) clarifies the particular challenge of establishing the fact that

colonialism actually did happen in the first place In the Americas (where the term

11 httpdecolonizingthecoldwarwordpresscom

8

Alanna Lockward

ldquodecolonial aestheticsrdquo was coined) this is self-explanatory to the point of absurdity

however in our European realities it is absolutely the opposite ldquoAfropeanrdquo is meant to

optimize the dialogical understanding between two processes of mental decolonization

with common objectives and a shared African and European colonialist legacy but very

different canonical historiographies As previously argued the systematic historical

erasure of colonial legacies after the Berlin-Africa Conference (1884-1884) is exemplary

of this situation To give a revealing example there are no monuments in Berlin that

commemorate this outlandish event

Additionaly ldquoAfropeanrdquo is also aimed at expanding awareness on the alarmingly growing

Afrophobia of continental Europe

Quinsy Gario Zwarte Piet is Racisme Peformance Campaign (2010-2012)Photo by Brett RusselCourtesy of the Artist and Art Labour Archives

As Quinsy Gario so cheerfully exposes in his performance-campaign Zwarte Piet is

Racism12 a demeaning caricature of Blackness is valued as an unchangeable ldquoinnocentrdquo

cultural heritage in the Netherlands utterly ldquounrelatedrdquo to colonialism which as we know

ldquohappened too long ago to even matter anymorerdquo Blackface is also institutionalized in

Germany as a ldquorespectablerdquo theatrical tradition The infamous Swedish cake13 and

countless alarming examples on racial profiling police harassment and random murders

of African immigrants in Greece are just the tip of the iceberg

Adding to these symptomatic examples I must admit that in spite of consistently trained

political awareness the hate-speech and prosecution of Somali communities in Sweden

the deaths under police custody in Germany the legal prescription of ldquoAnti-whiterdquo racism

in France the kidnapping of legal residency documents to Afro-Spanish citizens by the

12 httpzwartepietisracismetumblrcom13 httpwwwhuffingtonpostcom20120417lena-adelsohn-liljeroth-cake_n_1431544htmls877964

9

Alanna Lockward

police and a long list of unthinkable acts still take many of us by surprise Black Europe

and the African diaspora are indeed living extremely dangerous moments of coloniality

and need as much solidarity as we can humanly get

The pertinence of Afropean decolonial aesthetics in relation to current debates on identity

issues in Black Diaspora exhibition strategies is sustained by a revealing statement of

curator and writer Simon Njami

ldquoIt has always been a matter of regret to me that the history of certain parts of the Caribbean has been obscured That is not just the fault of the whites Both whites and blacks have adopted a fairly ambiguous attitude to this topic I can quote Ceacutesaire from memory who said in talking of the Caribbean that its people would never be capable of transforming their situation until they had admitted all aspects of their history

What does this history consist of Slavery of course and Africa But every time I visit the region I am struck by the glaring omission of that continent in artistic debates It is not a question of agitating on behalf of the Negroes ie Africans as in the early days of Neacutegritude Rather it is about incorporating the developments in the African continent as an integral part of their own history There are few links few projects aimed at bringing these two parts of the world closer together even though that might be where the future lies We are told that history is written by the victors But are we still tackling the debate in terms of conquerors and the conqueredrdquo (Simon Njami interviewed by Jocelyn Valton 2012139)

How does this particular quote reveal certain key contestations of decolonial aesthetics

and how does Afropean decolonial aesthetics challenge its presuppositions Do we need

to nurture the widely theorized Caribbean Caliban (Fernaacutendez Retamar 2000) approach

using the analytical model modernitycolonialitydecoloniality as a tool to question the

coloniality of aesthetics Should we instead speak of the aesthetics of coloniality as an

aspect of the coloniality of knowledge and being Should we focus our energy entirely on

the strategies of re-existence of what artistic practices are doing today in modernityacutes art

plantations Or should we do all of that at the same time

One can think of many ways to deliver a very simple response to the first part of Njamirsquos

quote which could be resumed as The fact that you have not read seen or heard about

something does not necessarily mean that it does or did not happen It is indeed the

inevitability of misinformation or disinformation among the different contexts of the Black

African and Caribbean Diasporas that demand from those of us engaged in its

conceptualization both as theoreticians and as facilitators to actively pursue the filling of

those gaps and not to simply expose or complain about them The second part of this

symptomatic statement by Njami in relation to ldquo tackling the debate in terms of

conquerors and the conqueredrdquo is lapidary Indeed for Decolonial Aesthetics it is a

matter of principle in its most literal meaning that is as departure point to systematically

10

Alanna Lockward

unveil the rhetoric of the conquerors (European modernity= civilization) in the logic of

coloniality (any art produced elsewhere outside Europe is = ldquoprimitiverdquo or just a mimicry

of the ldquouniversalrdquo essence of European art)

Jeannette Ehlers Three Steps of Story 335 2009 Courtesy of the artist and Art Labour Archives httpsvimeocom25309738

Obviously Simon Njami is unaware of how the imperial imagination persists on

portraying his presence as Diaspora thinker in the art plantations of modernity As a

reference from the inexhaustible list of coloniality I offer him the following quote by

Documenta 12 co-curator Roger Buergel

ldquoThe rainy summer was responsible for taking away the excitement of Documenta 12 that finished last Sunday according to exhibition director Roger Buergel The life outside the exhibition halls could not flourish This meant that the ideal atmosphere the liveliness could not be nurturedlsquo The arts need warmth ldquoThis is why Greece is the origin of civilization and Africa that of mankindrdquo (Der Tagesspiegel 240907 p 25)

It is imperative to remind Njami that Hegel made his epistemic division of Africa (Taiwo

1997) at the same time that the first German protestant colonizing mission was

established in the continent (1829) In this sense we could interpret his Philosophy of

History as a formidable public relations campaign in favour of European colonization

Walter Mignolo (2010-2012) has established the inextricable connection between Kantacutes

racialization discourses (Eze 1997) and its invention of aesthetics which determined that

only white Europeans were capable of attempting and understanding the sublime Hegel

acutes infamous dictum on the a-historical character of the African continent is in this sense a

mere continuation of Kantacutes ldquowildlyrdquo imaginative categorizations14

14 It is common knowledge that Kant never abandoned his port city of Koumlnisberg (not even to visit Berlin) and prepared his anthropological and aesthetics lectures from transcriptions of his interactions with seamen as Emmanuel Chukwdi Eze research establishes with rigorous accuracy These oral registers based on the mythologies pullulating in the imaginaries of the plantation economy are the basis of the ldquouniversalrdquo character of European art as we know it until today Welcome to decoloniality Simon Njami

11

Alanna Lockward

unveil the rhetoric of the conquerors (European modernity= civilization) in the logic of

coloniality (any art produced elsewhere outside Europe is = ldquoprimitiverdquo or just a mimicry

of the ldquouniversalrdquo essence of European art)

Jeannette Ehlers Three Steps of Story 335 2009 Courtesy of the artist and Art Labour Archives httpsvimeocom25309738

Obviously Simon Njami is unaware of how the imperial imagination persists on

portraying his presence as Diaspora thinker in the art plantations of modernity As a

reference from the inexhaustible list of coloniality I offer him the following quote by

Documenta 12 co-curator Roger Buergel

ldquoThe rainy summer was responsible for taking away the excitement of Documenta 12 that finished last Sunday according to exhibition director Roger Buergel The life outside the exhibition halls could not flourish This meant that the ideal atmosphere the liveliness could not be nurturedlsquo The arts need warmth ldquoThis is why Greece is the origin of civilization and Africa that of mankindrdquo (Der Tagesspiegel 240907 p 25)

It is imperative to remind Njami that Hegel made his epistemic division of Africa (Taiwo

1997) at the same time that the first German protestant colonizing mission was

established in the continent (1829) In this sense we could interpret his Philosophy of

History as a formidable public relations campaign in favour of European colonization

Walter Mignolo (2010-2012) has established the inextricable connection between Kantacutes

racialization discourses (Eze 1997) and its invention of aesthetics which determined that

only white Europeans were capable of attempting and understanding the sublime Hegel

acutes infamous dictum on the a-historical character of the African continent is in this sense a

mere continuation of Kantacutes ldquowildlyrdquo imaginative categorizations14

14 It is common knowledge that Kant never abandoned his port city of Koumlnisberg (not even to visit Berlin) and prepared his anthropological and aesthetics lectures from transcriptions of his interactions with seamen as Emmanuel Chukwdi Eze research establishes with rigorous accuracy These oral registers based on the mythologies pullulating in the imaginaries of the plantation economy are the basis of the ldquouniversalrdquo character of European art as we know it until today Welcome to decoloniality Simon Njami

11

Alanna Lockward

In Marcus Mosiah Garveyacutes Pan-Africanism we are commanded to decolonize our minds

During a speech in Nova Scotia in October 1937 which was later published in his Black

Man magazine he commanded us to emancipate ourselves from mental slavery This

legendary command has been masterfully paraphrased by Bob Marley in his

Redemption Song (1979) I see a compliance to Garveyacutes prophecy in Afropean

decolonial aesthetics I see it in every line of my writings and in every moment of

solidarity between the diasporas that I have experienced since my own mental

decolonization started (Haiti 1994 to be precise) Therefore and in order to conclude by

answering again the last question posed by Njami

ldquo are we still tackling the debate in terms of conquerors and the conqueredrdquo

Indeed we are in fact this is exactly what Afropean decolonial aesthetics is about

demanding epistemic accountability and retribution from the perpetrators and current

inheritors of white privilege in modernityacutes art plantations while at the same time

celebrating ourselves in our mutual recognitions We are here because we have

ALWAYS been here but it does not necessarily mean that we want to fit into the white

Cube we are here as Quinsy Gario tells us

ldquo() to talkabout our workabout our locationsabout our bodiesabout ourselvesThe selves that movein and out of sightbetween the pausesof time and spaceand beyondthe notion of what is slightlyunsoundrdquo

12

Alanna Lockward

APPENDIXBetween 2011-2012 decolonial aesthetics in the context of BEBOP 2012 was discussed for the first time at

Goldsmiths University of Londonhttpmarsgoldacukpoliticseventsheadline34285enphpMatadero MadridhttpwwwvideoartworldcomdatabulletinsImagery-Affairs-during-ARCO-MadridhtmlDocumenta 13 httpandandandorgeventsfive-decolonial-days-in-kassel-transforming-our-realities-turnhalle-4Dutch Art Institutehttpdutchartinstituteeupage1635shift-in-my-thinkingKade Museumhttpframerframednlenprojectendecolonial-aesthetics-and-european-blacknessTransart Institute Berlinhttptransartinstitutewordpresscom201107Universidad de Caacutedizhttpwwwanglistikuni-muensterdeimperiamdcontentenglischesseminares2009newsandannouncementspre-programa_web__1_pdfThe Bioscope Johannesburghttpwwwthebioscopecoza20120405black-europe-body-politics-screening-and-presentation-at-the-bioscopeKwa-Zulu Natal Arts Society httpkznsagallerycozaevents2012Aprilblack_europe_body_politics_film_screeninghtmNational Arts Gallery of Namibia httpwwwafricavenirorgindexphpid=32amptx_ttnews[tt_news]=131765ampcHash=954ac8d23647ac254c2afc7d1073219f

At the Berlin event there were two-hours screening sessions every morning followed by roundtable discussions on Decolonial Aesthetics and Aisthesis (Black European) citizenship anti-Blackface activism fashion and womanhood in Africa the Berlin-Africa Conference the Herero Nama Genocide and colonial amnesia in Germany and Scandinavia

Artists activists and scholars shared their knowledge on equal terms during the rich and diverse discussions Film and video-art were equated in status the industrial character of the former shared the same screening format and set-up as the later Performance art was discussed at a post-migrant experimental theatre space The scholarly work of theoreticians was discussed at an extra-academic space Activists were given plenty of space to display their campaigns and spread their message This event created a paradigm shift in decolonial sensing thinking and doing The many layers of this conversation are documented in the evaluations of the participants in really long essays or short and moving statements They will be published in the next dossier of Idea arte + societate (httpidearorevistaq=enhome)

13

Alanna Lockward

APPENDIXBetween 2011-2012 decolonial aesthetics in the context of BEBOP 2012 was discussed for the first time at

Goldsmiths University of Londonhttpmarsgoldacukpoliticseventsheadline34285enphpMatadero MadridhttpwwwvideoartworldcomdatabulletinsImagery-Affairs-during-ARCO-MadridhtmlDocumenta 13 httpandandandorgeventsfive-decolonial-days-in-kassel-transforming-our-realities-turnhalle-4Dutch Art Institutehttpdutchartinstituteeupage1635shift-in-my-thinkingKade Museumhttpframerframednlenprojectendecolonial-aesthetics-and-european-blacknessTransart Institute Berlinhttptransartinstitutewordpresscom201107Universidad de Caacutedizhttpwwwanglistikuni-muensterdeimperiamdcontentenglischesseminares2009newsandannouncementspre-programa_web__1_pdfThe Bioscope Johannesburghttpwwwthebioscopecoza20120405black-europe-body-politics-screening-and-presentation-at-the-bioscopeKwa-Zulu Natal Arts Society httpkznsagallerycozaevents2012Aprilblack_europe_body_politics_film_screeninghtmNational Arts Gallery of Namibia httpwwwafricavenirorgindexphpid=32amptx_ttnews[tt_news]=131765ampcHash=954ac8d23647ac254c2afc7d1073219f

At the Berlin event there were two-hours screening sessions every morning followed by roundtable discussions on Decolonial Aesthetics and Aisthesis (Black European) citizenship anti-Blackface activism fashion and womanhood in Africa the Berlin-Africa Conference the Herero Nama Genocide and colonial amnesia in Germany and Scandinavia

Artists activists and scholars shared their knowledge on equal terms during the rich and diverse discussions Film and video-art were equated in status the industrial character of the former shared the same screening format and set-up as the later Performance art was discussed at a post-migrant experimental theatre space The scholarly work of theoreticians was discussed at an extra-academic space Activists were given plenty of space to display their campaigns and spread their message This event created a paradigm shift in decolonial sensing thinking and doing The many layers of this conversation are documented in the evaluations of the participants in really long essays or short and moving statements They will be published in the next dossier of Idea arte + societate (httpidearorevistaq=enhome)

13

Alanna Lockward

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Albaacuten Achinte Adolfo (2010) Comida y colonialidad CALLE14 Bogotaacute Colombia volumen 4 nuacutemero 5 julio -diciembre de 2010

Beniacutetez Rojo Antonio (1996) The Repeating Island Durham Duke University Press

Brodber Edna (1994) Louisiana A novel London New Beacon Books

Clark Hine Darlene Keaton Tricca D Small Stephen (Eds) (2009) Black Europe and the African Diaspora Urbana and Chicago University of Illinois Press

E z e E m m a n u e l C h u k w u d i ( 1 9 9 7 ) T h e C o l o r O f R e a s o n T h e I d e a O f ldquo R a c e rdquo I n K a n t A n t h r o p o l o g y I n P o s t c o l o n i a l A f r i c a n P h i l o s o p h y E z e E C ( E d ) L e w i s b u r g B u c k n e l l U n i v e r s i t y httpblogsumasseduafroam391g-shabazzfiles201001Eze-on-Kants-Race-Theorypdf

Fernaacutendez Retamar Roberto (2000) Todo Calibaacuten La Habana Fondo Cultural del ALBA

Gario Quinsy (2012) Nets Have Many Holes Amersfoort The Netherlandshttpframerframednlendossiernets-have-many-holes

Ha Kien Nghi Roth Julia (Curators) (2012) Metro Facetten der asiastisch-deutschen Diaspora in Berlin Bundeszentrale fuumlr politische BildungHall Stuart (1989) Cultural Identity and Diaspora Framework (no 36) httpwwwrlwclarkenetTheoryPrimarySourcesHallCulturalIdentityandDiasporapdf

___________ (19962005)Critical Dialogues in Popular Culture Edited by Morley David and ChenKuan-Hsing London and New York Routledgehttpwxyseueducnhumanitiessociologyhtmledituploadfilesystem2011021320110213135536108pdf

Hansen Peo Jonsson Stefan (2011) Bringing Africa As A lsquolsquoDOWRY To Europersquorsquo Interventions 133 443-463httpdxdoiorg1010801369801X2011597600

Gario Quinsy (2012) Nets Have Many Holes Amersfoort The Netherlands httpframerframednlendossiernets-have-many-holes

Lao Montes Agustiacuten 2007 Hilos Descoloniales Trans-localizando los espacios de la Diaacutespora Africana Tabula Rasa Bogotaacute Colombia No 7 47-79 julio-diciembre 2007

Lockward Alanna (2012) Decolonial Diasporic Aesthetics Black German Body Politicshttpblackeuropebodypoliticswordpresscomdecolonial-diasporic-aesthetics

Lorde Audre 1984 Age Race Class and Sex Women Redefining Difference In Sister Outsider Los Angeles Freedom P 114-123

Mercer Kobena (2005) Diaspora Aesthetics and Visual Culture In Black Cultural Traffic Crossroads in Global Performance and Popular Culture Justin Harry amp Kennell Jackson Iam (Eds) Ann Arbor University of Michigan Press 141-161

___________ (1994) Recording Narratives of Race and Nation In Welcome To The Jungle New Positions in Black Cultural Studies London Routledge 69-96

14

Alanna Lockward

Mignolo Walter (2012 A) Decolonial Aisthesis and Other Options Related to Aesthetics In BEBOP 2012 Black Europe Body Politics Lockward Alanna Mignolo W Eds Berlin Ballhaus Naunynstrassehttpblackeuropebodypoliticswordpresscomcatalogue

___________ 2008 Delinking The Rhetoric of Modernity the Logic of Coloniality and the Grammar of De-Coloniality North Carolina Duke University Press httptownsendcenterberkeleyedupubsDe-linking_Mignolopdf

Ngozi Adichie Chimamanda (2011) Speech at SPUI25 in the 3th debate in the Narratives for Europe - Stories that Matter serieshttpwwwyoutubecomwatchv=-YEWg1vIOyw

Patterson Tiffany Ruby amp Kelley Robin D G (2000) Unfinished Migrations Reflections on the African Diaspora and the Making of the Modern World African Studies Review vol 43 no 1 pp 11-46

Santiago-Valles Kelvin A (2003) Race Labor Womens Proper Place and the Birth of Nations Notes on Historicizing the Coloniality of Power The New Centennial Review Volume 3 Number 3 Fall 2003 pp 47-69 Michigan State University Press DOI 101353ncr20040010

R Radhakrishnan (1991) Ethnicity in The Age of DiasporaTransition No 54 (1991) Indiana University Press pp 104-115 httpwwwjstororgstable2934905

Taiwo Olufemi (1997) Exorcising Hegelrsquos Ghost Africarsquos Challenge to Philosophy African Studies Quarterly Issue 4 (Religion and Philosophy in Africa)httpwwwafricaufleduasqv142htm

Thompson Krista (2011) Youth Culture Diasporic Aesthetics and the art of Being Seen in the Bahamas African Arts Spring 2011 httpwwwmitpressjournalsorgdoipdf101162afar201144126(downloaded 20102012)

Valton Jocelyn (2012) Art in the Caribbean A Way to Defy History Jocelyn Valton in Conversation with Simon Njami In Hoffmann Nancy Verputten Frank Eds (2012) Who More Sci-Fi Than Us contemporary art from the Caribbean Exhibition catalogue Kunsthal Kade Amersfoort Kit Publishers 134-141

Weheliye Alexander (2005) The Grooves of Temporality Public Culture Durham Duke University Press 17(2) 319ndash38 httpwwwenglishnorthwesternedupeopledocumentsweheliye3pdf

15